Turkey’s proposal clears last-minute snag in Zurich

The disagreement stemmed from the Armenian delegation's objection to an implicit reference to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan in a speech intended to be delivered by Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu at the end of the signing ceremony.

At a point where the holding of the ceremony seemed deadlocked, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton stepped in, and Davutoğlu proposed that no speeches be delivered by him or his Armenian counterpart, Edward Nalbandian, and the crisis was overcome. The signing took place in Zurich University's Churchill room, where Winston Churchill gave a speech in 1946. Clinton played an important role in resolving the crisis, serving as an intermediary and conferring via telephone with both the Armenian and Turkish sides. Diplomats said that the ceremony had turned away from the edge of the cliff.

Ankara's proposal for the delivery of no speeches by both Armenian and Turkish sides was found reasonable by the foreign ministers of France, Russia and the United States, the three co-chair countries of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe's (OSCE) Minsk Group, which has been working for a decade and a half to mediate the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Clinton, as well as Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and France's Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, encouraged Nalbandian to accept Davutoğlu's proposal.

Sources said the Armenians' main objection was to a particular sentence in Davutoğlu's speech which referred to peace in the Caucasus. Upon Armenia's objection, Turkey also objected to an expression in Nalbandian's speech which mentioned “negotiations without preconditions.”

“This road is long and full of difficulties. However, this road is worthy of investing labor; this journey can only take place with our partners who are now here and all peoples in Caucasus marching hand-in-hand,” Davutoğlu's sentence subject to Armenian objection read. The Armenians interpreted it as a direct link between normalization efforts and the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Amid heightened tension, Davutoğlu said “check” in the ongoing chess game, and said that he would “explicitly” refer to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in his speech if the Armenian side insisted on referring to “negotiations without preconditions,” in their text.

FM Davutoğlu (R) and his Armenian counterpart, Edward Nalbandian, sign an accord to normalize ties and establish diplomatic relations in Zurich on Oct. 10. American, Russian, French and Swiss foreign ministers also attended the signing ceremony, along with EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana.

Following negotiations between Clinton, Davutoğlu and Nalbandian, the Armenian and Turkish sides agreed to not deliver any speeches at the ceremony.

Davutoğlu appeared the far happier envoy, as he smiled broadly while posing for photographs and greeted the other foreign ministers in attendance, who also seemed joyful, while Nalbandian, by contrast, only grudgingly smirked as he shook Davutoğlu's hand.

Upon his return to Ankara, in an interview with the state-run Turkish Radio and Television Corporation (TRT) Davutoğlu played down the tension in Zurich, calling it “a procedural issue,” and “a natural element of the process.”

 What matters is the fact that the two countries have been determined to resolve issues related to the essence of the matter, and these kinds of crises will not be remembered by anyone after a while, Davutoğlu noted.

Armenia and Turkey announced on Aug. 31 that they had agreed to start internal political consultations on the two protocols -- the “Protocol on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations” and the “Protocol on the Development of Bilateral Relations” -- which had been initiated through the course of Swiss-mediated diplomatic efforts.

“The two protocols provide for a framework for the normalization of their bilateral relations within a reasonable timeframe. The political consultations will be completed within six weeks, following which the two protocols will be signed and submitted to the respective Parliaments for the ratification on each side. Both sides will make their best efforts for the timely progression of the ratification in line with their constitutional and legal procedures,” the foreign ministries of Armenia, Switzerland and Turkey said at the time in a joint statement which was released simultaneously.

On April 22, Turkey announced that it had reached an agreement with Armenia on a roadmap for normalizing relations, drawing praise from the United States and deepening concerns in Azerbaijan. During a subsequent visit to Baku, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said Turkey would not open its border with Armenia unless Armenia withdraws its troops from Nagorno-Karabakh.

Turkey was actually one of the first countries to recognize Armenia's independence in 1991. The two countries have been holding closed-door talks for around one-and-a-half years on ways to restore diplomatic relations and open their mutual border, closed by Turkey in 1993 in protest of the Armenian occupation of Azerbaijani territory during a war over the Nagorno-Karabakh region.

In his address to the people of Armenia, delivered on Saturday ahead of the signing ceremony, Sarksyan said his choice in relations with Turkey was based on “pragmatism and forward-looking sustained work.”

"Today, we are trying to put on a normal track relations with a country where, under the Ottoman rule, our nation fell victim to the policy of patricide and genocide. The scars of the genocide do not heal. And the memory of our martyrs and future of our generations dictates the need for a solid and stable state, a powerful and prosperous country, a country which is the rebirth of the dreams of the whole Armenian nation. One of the significant steps along that road is having normal relations with all our neighbors, including Turkey. Independence dictates the will and determination to make responsible decisions; it dictates pragmatism and forward-looking sustained work. That is the road I have selected. I have done it with the strong understanding of the historical reality and a strong belief in the future of our people,” Sarksyan said.

“There is no alternative to the establishment of the relations with Turkey without any precondition. It is the dictate of the time. It is not this need that is being debated today. The concern of individuals and some political forces is caused by the different interpretation of certain provisions contained in the protocols and their historic mistrust towards Turkey.”